Surat: A devastating terrorist attack struck Pahalgam in Jammu and Kashmir on April 22, claiming 26 lives, including three individuals from Gujarat. The victims included a father and son from Bhavnagar and a young bank employee from Surat, whose last rites were performed today at their native places. Talking to the media, the family of the Surat victim recounted how the terrorists separated the Hindu men from the Muslims and shot them.

Talking to the media agency ANI, Naksh Kalthia, son of Shailesh Kalthia from Surat who died, said, “We went to Pahalgam and saw five points. We were at the ‘mini Switzerland’ point in Pahalgam and were having food when we heard gunshots but could not see anything. We asked the people running the restaurants; they also did not know anything. We hid once we realized that terrorists had entered the area. But they found us. We saw two terrorists. I heard one of them order all the men to separate into Muslims and Hindus, and then shot all the Hindu men. The terrorists asked the men to recite ‘Kalma’ three times. All those Hindus who could not recite it were shot. Once the terrorists left, the locals came and said that all those who had survived should go downhill immediately. I went down on horseback and my mother and sister went down on foot. The army arrived half an hour or so after we climbed down from the point..”

“The terrorists were not letting him (my father) speak at all… They did not say anything (to my mother). There were around 20 Hindu men who were shot. One of the terrorists was fair and had a beard. He was wearing a cap, a white t-shirt, and black jeans. He had a camera tied to his head. We saw only two; others we don’t know. They did not shoot everyone and spared the women and the children,” Naksh added.

Shailesh’s wife, Sheetal Kalthia, said, “We had reached the area and were taking a snack break when we heard firing but couldn’t see anything. We ran to hide once we heard gunshots, but a boundary covered the whole area, so there was no place to hide. Suddenly, a terrorist was standing in front of us. He ordered the Hindus to get on one side and the Muslims to get on the other side… When the terrorist said ‘Kalam’ to each person, the Muslims responded by saying ‘Muslim’… Then he separated the Hindu men and shot all of them…”

“The person standing in front of me was tall and wearing a green-colored kurta and payjama and a cap worn at the time of Namaz. He was carrying a long gun with a camera on top. We did not say or do anything so that no harm would come to us. He kept standing there waiting for the people he had shot to die. He shot 6–7 men in front of us. He shot them at such close range that the men didn’t survive for more than 2–3 minutes after being shot… My husband’s head was on my lap, and I could not do anything. He had said that anyone who moves will be shot, so we could not do anything. Small kids were not shot, but the older children were also killed,” she added. DeshGujarat